Coin-collector for telephone-lines.



110.844,034. PATENTBD PEB.12,1907.

' j F. 11.1001300050. l

CO-IN COLLECTOR FOR TELEPHONE LINES. ArP'LIoA'rIoN rILnD'snrT. 2g, 1005.

l Tur Nollul rlflns ca., wAlnmu'rol. n. c.

UNITED MPATEIWI OFFICE.

FRANK R. MGBERTY, OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELF@TRICCOMPANY,l OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

COIN-'COLLECTOR FOR TELEPHONE-LINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1907.

Application led September 28, 1905. Serial No. 280,523.

T0 all L11/wm it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK R. MGBERTY, citizen Iof the United States,residing at Evanston, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and use` ful Improvement in Coin-Collector forTelephone-Lines, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, andexact description.

r My invention relates to coin-collectors of the variety used atsubscribers-stations of telephone-lines. been usual to provide a leveroperated by the weight of the coin to close initially the circuit to thecentral olice to signal the operator. The prior art is fairlyexemplii'ied inLetters Patent to A,Albert M. Bullard, for apparatus fortelephone toll-lines,` No. 665,874, dated January l5, 1901. I refer alsoto Patent No. 650,488, dated May 29, 1900, to Charles E. Scribner andmyself, for toll-collecting appliance for telephone pay-stations, asshow ing another form of collecting apparatus to which my presentinvention is applicable.

My invention relates more particularly to means for mechanicallymaintaining closed the contacts that are closed by the coin after theoperator .has sent current over the line to operate the magnet todeposit the coin in the cash-box or return it to the subscriber. In theBullard patent, No. 665,874, contacts q2 g3 are shown for maintainingthe. circuit closed in a shunt about the coin-operated switch. In patentto Joseph J. OConnell, No. 704,268, dated July 8, 1902, forcoincollector for telephone toll-lines, is shown, described, and claimedcertain means operated by the armature of the polarized electromagnetfor maintaining the coin-operated contacts closed together independentlyof the coin after the armature has been rocked in the act of throwingthe coin in one direction or the other, as the case may be.` Myinvention consists in improved means for doing this work, and speakingspecifically my invention consists in providingl r a T- shaped slot inthe lever which is shifted by the weight of the coin, into which slot apin controlled by the armature projects, the combination being such thatwhen the armature is tilted in either direction by current sent from thecentral o'llice the lever will be In these structures it hasl maydetermine the time of opening the coincontrolled contacts. that the pinnormally rests in the lowerpart of the T slot, and when in this positionin my particular form of apparatus the armature cannot be rocked ortilted, since the pin would obstruct such movement of the armature. Theweight of the coin carries the lever down to bring the upper andhorizontal portion of the slot in line with the pin. Then when thearmature is moved in either direction the pin moves in this horizontalportion of the slot in one direction or the other, and in either casethe pin will be in one end of the horizontal portion of the T slot, soas to prevent the lever from rising or moving to open the coin-operatedcontacts; Y

It should be stated My invention will be more readily understood byreference to the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure l representsafront view of a portion of the interior mechanism of one form oicoin-collector, to which my invention has been applied. Fig. 2 is asectional elevation, taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing the normalposition ofthe coin-operated lever and of the contacts controlledthereby. Fig` 3 shows the same mechanism with the coin in position andthe lever consequently de'- pressed and the contacts thereby closed.

Like parts are indicated by similarletters of reference kthroughout thedifferent iigures.

On the rubber base a are mounted the apparatus terminals in .awell-known way. The magnet b, in this instance polarized, is providedwith a centrally-pivoted armature c, which, as is well understood, isrocked in one direction or the other, according to the direction of thecurrent which is closed through the magnet, this armature from either ofits operated positions being adapted toy be restored by springs d d.(Shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.)

The coin when inserted in the chute, as

indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 8, is

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pin in this instance projects from the armature c. Now assume that thearmature is locked in position, so as to be under the conl tilted todeposit the coin, which would be to trol ofthe operator in order thatthe operator l the right. This movement would carry the IOS subscriberwho madethe deposit.

,. initially "closed to call the operator.

pin g to the right, moving the coin of course in the same direction andstarting it on its way toward the cash-box.

. vThev shape of the slot where the pin g rests is`s`ufch as to hold thelever in its lowered position orf'in its contact-closing position, andthe lever will thus be mechanically retained in position to holdthecontacts h closed so long as the operator shall choose to keep thecircuit closed.

Assume that the connection asked for with another subscriber was notobtained and the operator desired to return the coin to the In suchinstance.y current of the opposite polarity wouldbe sent over thecircuit and the arma- ,ture, and consequently the pin, would be movedinthe opposite direction-that is, to

. v.thcleft-Tin which case, as before, owing to the..shape of the slotthe lever e will be kept frern. rising after the coin has left thelever, andthepcontacts h will be still maintained closedgindependentlyof the influence of the coin,until the operator opens the circuit to'let-,the garmature c and the lever e resume their .normal positions.

coin-operated contacts h are assumed to bethose whereby thesignaling-circuit is The particular manner in which the coin isdirected, through the chute to bear upon and depress the lever e andalso the manner of supporting the coin and allowing it to fall inone-'direction or the other as the armature is, tilted constitute nopart of my invention.

r d.. `,Itgwillbe understood that the novel feature oilT the i12-shapedslot, combined with the pin, which pin is actuated by or attached to thearmature, may be usefully employed in other`-` structures thancoin-collectors. It will alsobe understood by those skilled in theartf-that/the particular configuration of the Slot and the size andshape of the pin which worksr therein may be varied without departingfrom my invention, provided the lever when initially moved or weightedchanges the relations between the pin and .the,s,lot, so that when thepin itself shall be actuated the lever will be held mechanically 5o in.position and be adapted thus to maintain the position of the lever, andthereby the con- Idition of the circuit.

-yIt is evident that if only one direction of movement of the armaturewere required a non-polarized electromagnet may be used, in whichlcasethe slot may be in the shape of an `inverted L or otherwise conformed tothe particular conditions of operation.

If have deemed it unnecessary to illustrate .either the circuits to thecentral station or the; details of the coin-chute. Other porvtionsof thecoin-collector have been omitted, lsince, their construction is wellunderstood ,and they are unnecessary to an understand- .ing of myinvention.

I claim-'d l. The combination with a lever provided with a slotextending transverse to the direction of movement of said lever, ofcontacts controlled by said lever, a coin-chute adapted to guide a coinin position to actuate said lever, an electromagnet, an armaturetherefor provided with means for controlling the disposal of said coin,and a pin on said armature in position to enter said slot and lock saidlever against movement when said armature is in its attracted position.

2. The combination with a lever provided with a horizontally-extendingslot, of contacts controlled by said lever, a coin-chute arranged toguide a coin in position to depress said lever, an electromagnet, atilting armature therefor provided with means for controlling thedisposal of said coin, and a pin on said armature in position when thelever is depressed and said armature is tilted, to enter said slot andlock said lever against movement.

3. The combination with a lever provided with an angular-shaped slot, ofcontacts controlled by said lever, a coin-chute arranged to guide a coinin position to actuate said lever, an electromagnet, a tilting armaturetherefor provided with means for controlling the disposal of said coin,and a pin on said armature in position when the armature is in itsattracted or unattracted position, to en-A IOO ed to guide a coin inposition to depress said lever, an electromagnet, a tilting armaturetherefor provided with means for controllingthe disposal of said coin,and a pin on said armature in position to enter the horizontal orvertical portion of said T-slot, when said armature is in its attractedor unattracted position, respectively, to control the movement of saidlever.

5. In a coin-collector, the combination with a coin-chute, anelectromagnet, a vertically-pivoted armature adapted to be tilted in oneof two opposite positions when attracted, and provided with means forcontrolling the disposal of a coin deposited in said chute, a leverarranged to be actuated by said deposited coin, and a pin in saidarmature arranged to engage said lever and hold the same againstmovement when said armature is in its attracted position.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 18th day of July,A. D. 1905.

FRANK R. MCBERTY.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK A. WATKINs, E. F. BEAUBIEN.

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